Semiconductor fabrication plants (FABs) and other research, industrial, and medical operations require the use of a variety gases. Gas lines carry the required gases to their points of use. Safety codes require that if gas lines carrying hazardous gases use fittings, the fittings must be located inside an exhausted enclosure. Safety codes also require a high exhaust flow through the exhausted enclosure, which causes the size of the exhausted enclosure to become impractically large and take up valuable working space.
Exhausted enclosures can be avoided if fittings are not used, such as if an all-welded line system is used. All-welded line systems maintain safety and security like exhausted enclosures, but all-welded line systems involve an extra level of complexity since the welded lines need to be fabricated section-by-section within the facility. All-welded line systems are also extremely expensive and take a long time to construct. Furthermore, many gas lines carrying hazardous gases need to have double containment, which greatly increases the cost and level of complexity. Therefore, all-welded line systems are not a satisfactory solution.
The cost of running an individual gas line using current methods is high. Facilities often require a large number of gas lines, which quickly amplifies the total cost of running gas lines. For example, multiple processing chambers within a FAB may each require the same twenty to thirty gases to carry out their operations. Using conventional methods, twenty to thirty individual gas lines would need to be run to each of the multiple processing chambers. In that common situation, the cost of providing gas lines to FAB equipment rapidly becomes extraordinarily expensive. As the complexity of a FAB or other facility continues to increase, so will the cost of providing the required gas lines.
As the foregoing illustrates, what is needed in the art is a safe, inexpensive, and convenient method for delivering a plurality of gas lines to different points of use within a FAB or other research, industrial, or medical facility.